Amanda MacDonald criticises justice system after experience following domestic violence

A woman who was threatened by a man just hours after an apprehended domestic violence order was taken out against him, has taken aim at the difficulty of navigating NSW’s justice system.

A Sydney woman threatened by her former partner just four hours after an ADVO was taken out says navigating the justice system was just as traumatic as receiving the death threats.

During a phone call, a court was told, Michael Cori said “I will f..king kill you, when you are asleep one night, I will set fire to your house, you f..king bitch”.

The court also heard Cori said “if I see you crossing the road, I will f..king run you over. Because you are f..king evil.”

Amanda MacDonald, a domestic violence victim speaking up against the system women have to go through to get offenders convicted. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Amanda MacDonald reported the breach to police and her ex-partner was charged with stalking/intimidation and breaching an apprehended domestic violence order. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in Burwood Local Court.

Cori tried to have the charges dealt with under the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act (2020), but was ultimately sentenced in the criminal jurisdiction and placed on a 12-month community corrections order. He was found not guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to a separate incident.

Ms MacDonald said the system needs change.

“I consider myself an intelligent and articulate woman who could not navigate the system,” she exclusively told the Sunday Telegraph.

“The system absolutely let me down and desperately requires change. I am not going to be ashamed of being a victim of DV, yet I found myself in a system that made me feel like it was my fault.”

Ms MacDonald said the system continues to favour the alleged perpetrators rather than the victims.

“The ‘defendant’ has the opportunity to spend hours with his solicitor, whether they be paid, or through legal aid. The witness for the Police, that is the victim is privileged to have a maximum of five minutes with their legal representative, that is, the Police Prosecutor.

“Assigned on the morning of the hearing, having never heard the ‘story’ or ‘experience’ of the ‘victim’, they stand before the Magistrate to advocate for justice. It is a farce.”

Ms MacDoald said she was privileged to get perhaps two minutes with my “advocate” on the morning of July 5 2023. “That is, the Police Prosecutor assigned my matter”.

“As I sat in a cleared courtroom, in the witness box, as I faced my ex, my faith in a justice system, instantly gone. The words from the prosecutor were ‘can you describe the events of 5 FeBruary 2023?’. I suggested that perhaps he was referring to the events of 1 February 2023.”

Cori appealed his sentence in the NSW District Court in February this year but the case was dismissed.